(I know this is a really noob-ish question, but I'm a noob-ish VMWare user.)

I see where there's a function to clone a VM, but that appears to clone its settings (CPUs, memory, disk space). I'm hoping for, essentially, a complete backup including the OS that I can store somewhere for an emergency. Do I need disk imaging software? Or is there a way to just copy an image.

4 Answers
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You can do a "hot clone" (where the VM is powered on) to either local native-storage, a NFS export, SAN, etc. and you will have a full copy of the OS and its settings. I believe the hot clone just creates a temporary snapshot first before the clone happens. You can also perform a "Clone to Template" if you want to keep a specific VM customized for redeployment.

The VMWare images are just files. You can copy the files provided they are not in use (actively running). If you copy the files without using the clone feature, the next time you open the image, it will ask if it's a clone or a copy - just answer "copy". Simple as that.

You can copy the image if you suspend (or stop) the VM first. At a previous job, I had a nightly backup script that did that for each VM: suspend it if it's running, copy all the files to a staging area, and resume it if the suspended it earlier.